The Collapse of the Soviet Union Aim: How did internal issues lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union? Do Now: How did Gorbachev’s policies impact the Soviet Union politically? socially? economically?

Unrest in the Soviet Union As Eastern Europe gained freedom from the Soviet Union, various nationalities in the Soviet Union began to call for their independence More than 100 ethnic groups lived in the Soviet Union Russians were the largest, most powerful group Non-Russians formed the majority in the 14 Soviet republics other than Russia Nationalist groups in Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldavia demanded self-rule The Muslim peoples of Soviet Central Asia called for religious freedom

The Dissolution of the Soviet Union (1991) As the nationalistic spirit spread to other Soviet republics, Gorbachev sought to end the growing conflict He began negotiating a new Treaty of Union with the leaders of the republics On the eve of signing the treaty, in August 1991, Communist hard-liners staged a coup d’etat The conspirators sought to return the Soviet Union to its condition before Gorbachev, when the Communist government was in control and the army was used to put down independence movements

The Dissolution of the Soviet Union (continued) The coup lacked popular support and quickly collapsed The Communist Party, which had supported the coup, was completely discredited Gorbachev recognized the independence of Lithuania and the other Baltic States In December of 1991, Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine declared independence and formed the new Commonwealth of Independent States (C.I.S.) Other former republics soon joined Only the Baltic states and Georgia refused to join

Yeltsin Denounces Gorbachev As Mikhail Gorbachev became less popular, many Soviet citizens looked to Boris Yeltsin for guidance In June 1991, Yeltsin became the Russian Republic’s first directly elected president Yeltsin criticized Gorbachev’s reforms and policies On Christmas Day 1991, Gorbachev resigned as president of the Soviet Union

Yeltsin’s Reforms Boris Yeltsin implemented reforms to solve Russia’s economic problems: Introduction of a free market system Ended price controls on most goods Began to privatize state-owned businesses

Economic Problems Continue Despite Yeltsin’s reforms, the Russian economy failed to improve High unemployment Poor healthcare Malnutrition and food shortages inflation